The Oldest Story in the Universe
by showoswinthestars
Summary: The Doctor arrives at a mystical plant in which the stars gaze back at you.


**Author's note**: this is a Doctor Who and Stardust AU. The Stardust bits are mostly from the movie. Also, this is my first fanfic and I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own any of the characters

* * *

The TARDIS materialized in a wide field and the Doctor stepped out. He looked around and smiled at the beautiful night sky around him.

"Planet Stormhold, Earth like, well most of it anyway. They say that there is magic here…" the Doctor started to say before realizing he was alone. He sighed and walked away from his beloved ship to explore the planet. He's never been there, on the planet divided by magic. According to the legends, half the planet is normal, very much like Earth, but the other half is filled with magic and mystery and stories about stars that gaze back at you. He always thought of them as just stories, but the universe is a big place, and even he didn't see everything yet. That was the reason he kept traveling.

The Doctor walked around for a while when a shooting star passing in the sky. He knew it's not logical, he knew it was just stone and ice burning through the atmosphere, but at that moment he didn't care and he wished. He wished he'll find someone to travel with him, he'll rarely admit this out loud but he was lonely. He lost so many people, his entire race, and he was tired of traveling alone. He wanted a companion, a friend…

* * *

A falling star. Finally. It has been years since the last star fell on Stormhold, Lamia and her sisters almost gave up hope to gain their youth back. She woke her sisters up to tell them the news. They wasted some time arguing but eventually they decided – Lamia will use what is left of the last star's heart to gain enough youth and power, and then go capture the new star and kill her.

* * *

The Doctor snapped back to reality and realized something about that star was weird. He had seen many shooting stars on many planets and this one was somehow different. It seemed a bit too bright and the route was a bit off. He watched, and saw it fall to the ground so he wanted to take a closer look at it.

When the Doctor reached the crater he ran to the edge, but there was no trace of the rock. There was, however, a girl, sitting in the middle. She had long blond hair and she wore a long silvery dress. She was beautiful. She didn't seem hurt, and the Doctor wandered why she would be sitting in the middle of a crater.

He walked over to her, "Hello! Are you hurt?"

When she didn't answer he continued "Have you seen what fell here? We're in the middle of the crater, it should be here somewhere" he said while looking around.

"Yeah, very funny" she said, annoyed by the question.

The Doctor turned back to her, "what?"

"Of curse this is where it fell, you're looking right at it." She said, pointing to herself.

"What?!" he collected his thoughts for a moment, "what are you?" he tried to get a reading from his sonic and she backed away.

"I'm a star. I fell from the sky. And this is where I landed. You aren't from around here are you?"

"No, actually. You're a star? How is that possible?"

The Doctor took out his glasses and started examining the girl. She looked normal enough but he wanted to know if it was possible, he had never seen anything like this, nothing ever remotely similar to this. He didn't think it was possible but there was little he loved more than to discover the secrets and miracles of the universe.

She was staring at him and getting a little uncomfortable "Can you stop doing that please?"

The Doctor took off his glasses and apologized, "I've never seen anything like you before. A star in a human form! This is fascinating."

"So who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, I'm a time traveler. I was just passing by, really. Wanted to see if the legends are true."

"The Doctor? Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor. What about you? You didn't tell me your name. Do stars even have names?"

"Rose."

"Nice to meet you, Rose."

Their eyes locked for a second but then she started looking around, "I need to get out of here."

"Is everything alright?'

"It is not safe for me on this side of the planet."

"What do you mean? Why is it not safe here?"

She looked away and refused to answer.

"It's okay. You can trust me. I won't hurt you," he put his hand on hers and she turned to look at him.

"A star's heart can grant eternal youth if eaten, so stars that fall here are hunted, and killed."

The Doctor looked at her, "I'm sorry. Is there a way for you to go back?"

"Yes, but it require a Babylon Candle, and they are rare, almost impossible to find. There's a market here, someone might be able to tell us where to look."

The Doctor took a few steps and then stopped and turned to Rose, "Do you know where that market is?"

She smiled, trying not to laugh at him and said "I've been watching this plant for centuries, Doctor. I know where everything is. The market is right next to the border."

"So it's true? Half the planet is magical?"

"I guess you can call it magic."

The Doctor smiled "well then, lead the way. Allons-y!"

"What?"

"Never mind, let's go."

* * *

Lamia arrived at the crater and found it empty.

She contacted her sisters, "someone else beat me to the star. I could not get here on time to stop them."

"You've lost our star? Perhaps we sent the wrong sister to do this task."

"Nonsense! I will get her. Now go check what happened here!"

Through the connection she saw her sisters walk over to a cage, taking out one of the animals and sticking a knife in it stomach. They dug in the animal's internal organs, reading in them, until one of them said, "There was a man. He helped her get away. He will not harm her."

Lamia thought for a few seconds, "She will want to go home. She will search for a Babylon Candle and the best place to start is the market near the wall. They will head there and that's where I will take her."

She broke the connection and looked at the price her use of magic took. The skin on her hands was showing signs of aging and she felt a few wrinkles appear on her face, she have started to lose her youth again already.

She waved her hand to get the horses tied to her carriage going and with that she started on her way to the wall.

* * *

By dawn the Doctor and Rose reached a small town, they were both tired so they decided to rest, the market wouldn't be open until the following day anyway. The got two rooms and slept for a few hours. When they were both awake they went and got something to eat and they spend their time telling each other stories. Rose told the Doctor about her sisters and all the centuries she spent watching Stormhold, and the Doctor told Rose about his travels across time and space.

They kept talking as they walked around the town but they were so caught up with each other that they didn't hear the screams in the distance as the witch arrived there. Lamia got closer, pulled Rose inside the carriage and drove away before the Doctor realized what was going on.

He yelled for Rose and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He tried to stop the carriage but it was going too fast and by the time everything happened it was already too far away.

The town's people were all in shock. They weren't used to these kind of things, it was a small quiet town and when the market wasn't working no one even stopped there. The Doctor saw a girl trying to calm down her horse, ran towards her and asked quietly "Who was that?"

"A witch. They used to rule this side of the world until they were defeated by the king and his army". She looked at him with fear and wonder, these stories were well known around this side of the world.

He turned to the direction the witch drove off to and then back to the girl "Mind if I borrow your horse? She took my friend."

This really frighten the girl "you can't go after her, sir! She is very powerful and she has two sisters to help her!"

"Ah," he winked at her, "I'll be fine."

She was still worried but she nodded and stepped away from her horse. The Doctor got on it and rode after the witch, she was a few minutes ahead of him but he rode fast and kept on her trail.

After a few hours of riding the Doctor saw the carriage standing near a huge mansion. He stopped his horse and jumped to the ground. It was very quiet outside and the heavy doors kept him from hearing anything from the inside. He pushed the door, which was unlocked and he walked inside.

As he opened the door three old women turn to look at him, they were standing near a big stone table and Rose was tied up on it. When she looked at him she was suddenly glowing a little. The Doctor stepped forward and said, very calmly "let her go."

The witches laughed and the one in the middle returned to sharpening her knife. The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, aimed it at the witch and the knife shattered in her hands. She looked up at him and the woman to her right walked toward him and raised her hand. Fire started shooting from it and the Doctor ducked and ran to the side. He aimed the sonic to the mirror next to her, the broken glass hitting the witch and knocking her out.

The other witch, the one on the left, looked in horror as her sister lay on the ground motionless, but the other one staid clam.

"Let her go!" the Doctor repeated.

The calm one was the one that answered him "Ha! You foolish man. We are queens, witches of the Lillim Coven, we cannot be beaten by your cheap tricks. We will have this star's heart and we will gain back all the glory of our youth!"

"Well I am the Doctor and I will not let you harm her," he nodded his head in Rose direction "Let her go now. There is no need for anyone to get hurt".

The witches didn't answer and the one on the left lunged forward and ran toward the Doctor. There were animals in cages around the room and when she got near them they all started growling. When the Doctor noticed this he used the sonic to open the cages. The moment they were open the animals ran out and attack the witch. He saw Rose turning her head away with fear and disgust so he used the sonic again to scare them away from the witch before they could kill her.

Lamia was the only one left standing after that. She looked at both her sisters and then at the Doctor and then cut the ropes that held Rose on the table.

Rose got up and backed away slowly. Lamia fell on the floor and with a shaking voice yelled at them "go! Youth and beauty, they mean nothing without my sisters. Go now and leave us be".

The doctor ran toward Rose and met her halfway with a hug. They were walking away but just before they reached the door it slammed shut. Turning around they saw Lamia laughing and walking toward them with confident. "You should have killed them," she said pointing at her sisters who were still unconscious on the floor "a whole heart all to myself. Sounds good. I might have to finish that job later".

She waved her hands and shattered the rest of the mirrors in the room. The Doctor ducked over Rose, protecting her from the glass. Lamia watched them and continued "but you did help me, I should thank you for that. A star's heart in much better when it's glowing and she glows much brighter when you're around".

That gave Rose an idea. She looked at the Doctor and stepped closer to him, "close your eyes."

He looked at her with a questioning face so she added "What do stars do?" she looked him in the eyes and stepped even closer. She was shorter then him so she had to stand on her toes, but she brought her face to his, their lips almost touching, and whispered "They shine".

She kissed him and her skin started to glow and the light around her became brighter with every passing second, the Doctor closed his eyes and kissed her back. Through his eyelids he could feel the light and warmth radiating from her, he heard the witch scream and the light died out. When he opened his eyes there were ashes on the floor where the witch previously stood.

"That was amazing."

She smiled at him, "I couldn't do it without you."

* * *

They used the horse to get back to the town and the Doctor found the girl who owned the horse "see? I told you I'll be fine" he smiled at her and walked back to Rose who still had a faint glow to her skin.

It was very late so they stayed in town for the night. In the morning they decided they are not ready to say their goodbyes yet and they started to wander through the town. They walked for hours, holding hands, exploring every inch of the town and its surrounding.

"Travel with me," the Doctor said as they were lying in a field, gazing at the stars.

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I can't live outside this plant. There's a reason you've never seen anything like me before."

He looked at her, trying to keep his sadness hidden and said, "Can I at least help you get back home? I have a ship. I can make sure it's safe for you to enter."

She nodded and they stayed like this for a few more hours in silence, watching the stars that were, in different ways, home to them both.

* * *

It took them a whole day to get back to the TARDIS. They weren't in a hurry, and they knew that their time together would be over once they got there. When Rose saw the little blue box she let out a laugh "this is your ship? It's a wooden box!"

"Hey! Have some faith," the Doctor replied as he open the doors "wait here." he got inside and adjusted a few settings to make sure Rose could enter safely. Rose peeked inside without entering and gasped when she saw the real size of the ship. She stepped back and walked around the box and when she was back near the door she almost yelled to the Doctor "it's…it's bigger on the inside! This is unbelievable."

"Said the human star," he laughed "you can come in now, it's safe."

She stepped inside and he returned her home.

* * *

Rose eyes were filling with tears as she stood in the entrance of the TARDIS, about to step out "I'll watch out for you. If you are ever around, you better come visit me."

"I will" but he knew it will be a while before he comes back, if he comes back at all.

* * *

Going back to the console the Doctor couldn't help but wonder if he should have seen this coming. After all, boy and girl fall in love, get separated by events. She's thrown out of the hex, or he's thrown into it, since then they've been yearning for each other across time and space. It's the oldest story in the universe.


End file.
